SSOWeek - Raptor, June 2015
by Centeris2
Summary: The Star Stable Online community on Tumblr held a week long event (hosted by me, unoriginally dubbed SSOWeek), following a similar format as shipping weeks (like Zutara Week). These are all Raptor-centric fics. The prompts were: Bay, Silence, Desire, Happiness, Gift, Green, Authority
1. Bay

Another night of screaming and arguing over money. Another night where he wasn't sure if everyone had gotten enough to eat. Another night where he found himself sitting on a ledge, staring into the bay as ships came in and out. Another night of empty promises to himself that somehow he would escape this life and make something of himself, become fabulously wealthy and not looked down on for where he was born. The teenaged boy groaned and held his head in his hand, looking at the open notebook next to him. There were scribbles of lines, words scratched out and arrows indicating adding words back in, it was an utter mess to anyone but him.

But that notebook of chicken scratch was his best bet at getting out of the life he knew. He'd buy a big mansion with lots of land, or maybe a penthouse in Jorvik City. He'd have a bar and hot tub there, and definitely his own pool. All his clothes would be top of the line, the best that money could buy, and he'd start his own fashion trends. Fangirls would follow him everywhere, trying to get his attention and an autograph. No one would ever call him low class trash or tell him he wouldn't amount to anything because he'd prove them wrong. And his mom would never have to worry about bills or make the choice between the heat or food.

He looked through the book, flipping through pages of his heart poured out in ink on the lined paper. Everything he felt, everything he wanted, but it wasn't good enough. He knew there was something missing from his lines, they weren't enough to impress the people at Star Academy. He had to win that audition, but he didn't know what he was missing. All his feelings had been written into the notebook, and he knew he could make good music, he just needed one hit, one good song, to get him in front of agents and producers scouting for the next big talent.

For a long while he watched the ships move in and out of the bay, flicking the pen against the ledge to a quick beat. Songs needed emotions, they needed passion, they needed a story. He needed to write something that had all those things and was able to connect to the listeners, make them feel like it was their story he was singing about. And to go with that he needed a good beat that would get into the listener's head, make them tap their feet and get the song stuck in their head so they were humming it as they walked down the street and couldn't stop thinking about it. This wasn't a love song he was thinking of, he didn't care about those, this was going to be a song about ambition, about not settling for what you are served. It was going to be a fight song, and a song that flipped the bird to everyone who had ever told him he couldn't do it.

It just had to be written, and he had no idea how to start it.

"Torgny?" a woman, his mother, called out to him. Her voice was raspy from arguing with the other members of their family. He turned and looked at her, giving her a wave.

"Can you come put your brother to bed? I've got another night shift…" she asked as he hopped off the ledge and walked over to her.

"They're making you go in again?" he spat, looking at how tired his mother was already from her already long day.

"If they need me, they need me. I can't tell my bosses no," she sighed with a shrug.

"Make sure he does his homework and gets to bed on time, and the same goes for you," his mother instructed, pointing a finger at him and making him smile.

"Of course mom, anything for you."


	2. Silence

It was quiet here at night without the hustle of people coming to and fro on their way to wherever. He liked it, the silence gave him a chance to just breath and think. Tomorrow, this place was going to be filled with people, students of the academy here to listen and scouts from record companies looking for talent. He knew he would impress them, so long as everything went according to plan and nothing happened like broken sound equipment to mess up his performance.

He walked down the aisle, his hand trailing on the chairs as he passed them. This was going to be his big chance, after tomorrow everything would change. He had been lucky to even get into Star Academy, he had fought for and earned his chance to be here. All those years of struggling to get by, of writing song after song in notebooks, chasing inspiration but never being able to use it. Finally all those lyrics had a place to go, there was a stage for him to perform on and make himself be heard.

The stage came up to his shoulders, and instead of walking over to the stairs he jumped, hoisting himself up onto the raised platform. From there he turned and looked over the auditorium. He had been on this stage before, for school events for students to show off their talent, and for multiple practice runs to get ready for tomorrow. He told himself he wasn't nervous, if he told himself that enough times he might believe it. But his stomach still clenched at the thought of performing before so many important people. It was just a fear, he would be able to push through it, he had to if he was ever going to escape. He couldn't stand living in that tiny excuse of a house in an area of the city where the name made people sneer and walk a little faster to get past. But after tomorrow, after he won the audition, he wouldn't have to be there much longer. His music career would take off and he would be living in a sweet penthouse by the end of the year. Maybe for Christmas they could all go on a proper vacation, his mother would like that.

The only sound was his footsteps as he moved to the center of the stage, where he, along with many others, would be standing and singing their heart out. But they didn't have as much passion and feeling as he did, he knew he could beat them. He let out a long breath and closed his eyes, imagining what it would look like when he stepped out on the stage tomorrow, all eyes on him. Cameras and hot lights would be pointed right at him, and everyone would know who he was and respect him by the end of the song. They would cheer, some would even be standing, by the time he finished, applauding and screaming his name.

That thought made him smile, and he opened his eyes to the dark and silent auditorium. Tomorrow was the beginning of the rest of his life, a much brighter life than he had known before.


	3. Desire

"Hey look, it's Raptor!"

"Hey over here! Raptor give us a smile!"

"I LOVE YOU!"

"Can you sign my shirt?"

"Are the rumors that you are paying child support to three different women true?"  
"Will you take a selfie with me?"

"I WANT TO HAVE YOUR BABIES!"

If Raptor said he didn't like the attention his fame had brought him, he would be lying. This, in part, was what he had wanted his entire life. And now he was wanted by the entire world. Or at least wanted by anyone who had heard of him and heard his songs.

He grinned and waved to his devoted fans and flashing paparazzi as his body guards cleared the way so that he could get into the car. As fun as staying in his penthouse was, he had work to do. Today, that work involved going to the studio to talk with his manager as well as drop some hints on social media that a new song was coming out soon.

"Gonna drop some sick beats soon, are you ready for #yohey ?" he posted to his Jitter account. The song had already been recorded, but his people thought that the sales would be better with more hype and then a surprise release. With that sent he looked out the window, watching the city go by as the driver navigated the streets. When the car stopped at a light he saw a group of teenagers walking down the street.

He rolled down the window and called out, "Hey yo!"

"RAPTOR!?" the group screamed, rushing to take their phones out before he could drive away. He gave them a wave as the car pulled away, chuckling at the excited screams he heard as the car drove away.

By the time he reached the studio about twenty minutes later his post had received over four thousand favorites and almost two thousand reposts. Ideally he would get the hashtag trending, that would make his manager the happiest.

When he stepped out of the car he was greeted by more paparazzi that were pushed back by his guards as he walked into the building. Some of them followed him on Jitter, as he heard some of them asking him about "Yo Hey" and when it would be coming out.

"Raptor, there you are!" his manager acted as though he was late, even though he was actually a few minutes early. Raptor smirked at the older man as he flopped down onto the couch in the office.

"Yo man, so how's it look?"

"Fantastic! We got the schedule for the tour all lined up, although we've made one more addition," the stout man gleamed, handing his best star a copy of the locations and dates.

"You crammed in four more spots a few days ago, aren't you overdoing it?" Raptor asked as he looked. The original tour schedule was tight already and would have barely given him much time off besides the time he'd spend traveling to each location. However, more places had wanted him and his people had obliged by both extending his tour time by several weeks and doubling the amount of concerts he'd be performing. The newest addition to the roster was highlighted, and he couldn't help but smile. Jorvik Plaza, the mall in Jorvik City. The last concerts there had gone very well but he was surprised they were trying to get him back so soon. He couldn't help but wonder how much they were shelling out, or what favors they had had to call in to get him back in to perform for another week only a few months after his last week spent there.

"You can handle it, besides everyone wants to see you! You can't disappoint your fans!" his manager Mr. Bigcake grinned widely when Raptor took a pen and officially signed off on the tour. Raptor would never want to disappoint his fans.


	4. Happiness

He took the bus home, as he normally would take public transport to get home, and walked the last few blocks to his home. A lot had happened, and everything was changing, but he had kept it to himself. While he wanted to be excited and share the news with his family, he couldn't bring himself to do it. Despite his confidence he couldn't fight back the fear that it wouldn't work, and his doubt had kept him silent. He didn't want to get anyone's hopes up only to ruin them and disappoint his family. He couldn't break his mother's heart like that.

But now he was doing his best to contain his grin, ignoring the confused looks from people he passed who no doubt wondered why he was smiling so brightly. All his hard work had paid off, all the time and work spent getting to this point. The struggles, the frustration, it had been worth it. All the people who told him he could never do it, who taunted him for writing down his emotions and called him weak for turning words to rhymes, who told him to settle for a life scraping by and living paycheck to paycheck. He had proved them wrong, and he had the evidence of that on a little slip of paper that he could shove in the face of anyone who asked. But he had other plans for that small page shoved tight in his pocket.

The place he called home greeted him with a heavy smell of smoke and lingering atmosphere of arguments, ready to break out at any time. He opened the door and heard no yelling at the moment. The television was playing, no doubt his father was ready to pass out on the couch. His mother he found in the kitchen, the table covered in papers. The way her back was tensed and based on the occasional sniffle she was once more caught in a difficult struggle between deciding which bills they could afford to pay and which ones they could get away with not paying for another month. Normally whenever he saw this scene his heart would hurt and he hate that his family was in this position to begin with and that his part time job wasn't enough to fix their financial situation.

Now the sad scene made him smile even wider.

"Hey mom," he announced his presence, giving her a hug from behind. She hastily wiped her face and returned the hug by embracing the arms wrapped around her front.

"Oh you're home already! I was just looking at some paperwork-" she tried to shuffle the papers together and out of sight. She never wanted her children to worry about the family's money and did her best to conceal the issues, although it was difficult to cover it up when they fought over money on a regular basis.

"Mom, remember what I said when I got into Star Academy?" his arms were still around his mother, his head resting on her head as he stood over her.

"Of course sweetie, you said you were going to be rich and famous. And you will be some day, I believe in you!" she replied as any good mother would be supportive of her child's passion.

"I didn't just say that though, I promised you I'd make enough money to pay off everyone and get you a nice house. One with a yard, so you can have that garden you've always wanted, by the shore," his mother laughed at that, patting his arms.

"You don't have to worry about me, dear, I'll take care of myself when you're living in your penthouse in a big city," she assured him, wondering what the rustling was and what he was getting out of his pocket.

"You've taken care of all of us, it's time I start to return the favor," he replied, presenting the paper from his pocket. He let go of her, ending the hug so she could take the piece of paper and read it. His mother was dead silent, reading and rereading the sheet in her hands. After what seemed like minutes she turned and looked at him in shock.

"I got the contract, that was the advance from my agent for my song. I have a meeting with them tomorrow to start going over more songs for my album deal," he explained, delighted when her shocked and confused expression turned to glee, and maybe relief.

"Album? Agent? Oh that's wonderful!" she cried, standing up and hugging him, her eyes filling with tears of joy.

"But what kind of mother would I be if I took your money?"

"A mom who deserves every bit of it. I promised that you'd get my first check, and you've always told me to keep my promises," he replied, grinning at his mother. For the first time in years, the weight of debts and desperate money situations was lifted from her shoulders, and he had never seen her smile to brightly. And that was a reason to be happy.


	5. Gift

The Jorvik Plaza Mall was a complete success, all thanks to him no doubt. Having a famous rapper made the opening week a week filled with customers and concerts. In a way he saw this as giving back to Jorvik itself, where the Star Academy had launched his initial career. No doubt the countless young women who had arrived to the mall had come for him. Sure there was shopping, but when the lights came on and the music began they flocked to the main hall to hear him. And how he loved hearing them chanting his name and his song back at him. He hated to admit it, but his managed Mr. Bigcake was right, Hey Yo was an instant hit. He had been worried that it wouldn't have the depth or appeal as the songs he wrote, but there was something about that song that people loved. It couldn't have been the lyrics, as he hadn't written then, so it must have been the beat and the music itself.

Whatever it was it worked and the idea to limit the lyrics meant his international fame was also growing, his song was in the top 10 in multiple countries that spoke different languages. Hey Yo may not have been a masterpiece of words, but everyone could understand it, which meant more people could, and would, buy it.

It was currently between performances, it seemed people gathered before the performance started but left the main hall empty when it wasn't close to a concert. While he liked being mobbed by adoring fans, he also enjoyed the much slower pace these breaks provided. He could stand on the stage, people watching, and every few minutes a person, or a group of people, would come up to him and ask for his autograph or pictures. It was much more relaxed, and it gave him a chance to spend more time with his fans.

As he stood and watched, winking and waving at the fans that were too shy to approach him on stage, he noticed a girl speaking to the janitor. What confused him was that this was not the first time that particular girl had spoken to the janitor, and it seemed she was doing tasks for him. What he also found odd was that she barely looked at the stage. She must have been living under a rock, or was very good at sneaking glances when he wasn't busy.

After another gaggle of fans left the stage with autographs and excited whispers the girl stepped up on stage, but it was more like she happened to be going on stage where he just happened to be, she didn't make a direct line for him like the others had. But she did approach him, looking at him with an eyebrow raised. Perhaps she was skeptical that he was the real thing.

"Hey yo my fan!" he called to her, and she looked at him with a slightly tilted head as though she recognized him. Which she should, his posters were everywhere and everyone knew who he was. He decided she was just star struck and pulled out one of his pre signed autographs. They were handy in cases such as these when his fans couldn't manage to produce anything for him to sign.

"Here, it took me like three second to sign it!" she looked at the sheet of paper offered to her and took the gift, "So it's worth like ten thousand shillings, because that's how much my time is worth!"

She just stared at him for a moment before nodding once, muttered "alrighty then," to herself, and walked off stage.

What a weird fan.


	6. Green

"What doya mean you 'don't like my look'?" Raptor demanded, insulted.

"It's not that I don't like your look, we just need to create a new image. You're RAPTOR now, we need to create a look that goes with being a star!" his poor manager tried to explain as delicately as he could, not yet knowing how to handle this new talent he had found.

"What I look too poor for you?"

"No no not at all! You're look is just… humble. It's too simple, it's boring, you need something to flash and pop and call attention to yourself! You are Raptor! Jorvik's Star! You need a look that defines you, something that sets you apart from the rest of the artists out there. You aren't a run of the mill rap artist, you are THE rap artist! You are going to redefine music and rap as we know it! Do you understand what I'm saying?" that explanation soothed the ruffled feathers, Raptor thinking while Mr. Bigcake kept his arm around Raptor's shoulder. Luckily, Raptor responded before it became awkward.

"Something fresh. I'm breathing life back into the dying music industry, I can dig that," Raptor said slowly, grinning at his own self importance. Mr. Bigcake laughed and gripped Raptor in a tight one armed hug.

"Exactly! Now we'll get Miss Dawnpoulos, you've met Lauren right? And she'll get you set up with all the designers you'll need-" Raptor pulled out of the hold and cut off his manager with an excited voice.

"Hold up I got an idea first! Now that's a good plan but I'mma try something and show it to you, and then we'll build off of what I come with up, yea? This is my new look, I should be the inspiration for it!" Mr. Bigcake blinked and stuttered as Raptor made for the door.

"I suppose but- wait!"

"Great! See you tomorrow with my plan!" Raptor yelled before running out the door before Mr. Bigcake could get another word in.

After a moment of stunned silence Mr. Bigcake sighed and walked over to his chair, slumping down in it. New talent was always so difficult to deal with.

"Mr. Bigcake?" Ms. Dawnpoulos rang him before he had even managed to get settled into his chair the next day. He sighed and answered. It was too early in the morning to be dealing with trouble.

"What is it Lauren?" he asked, wondering what could possibly need his attention this early in the morning before he had gotten a chance to do any other work.

"Raptor has arrived, he's on his way up to you now."

"What, this early? That's a surprise. Thank you, Ms. Dawnpoulos, and get ready to get Raptor his new wardrobe, like we were supposed to do yesterday," he grumbled the last part and the line clicked. He could hear footsteps approaching his open door so he stood up again. He reached for his coffee, wondering what Raptor's idea was going to be. He looked up at the doorway as the newest star came into frame, striking a pose.

His coffee mug shattered on the floor.

"Hah! I knew you'd like it! What's more fresh and alive than this! I'll go get Ms. Dawnpoulos and get those designers to come up with some wicked stuff to go with my idea!" Raptor said before he spun out of view, too excited and pleased with himself to wait for a verbal response from his manager. Mr. Bigcake, in the meantime, had grabbed onto his desk to keep from falling over after he had dropped his coffee.

"Green…" he muttered, hand reaching for his chair, "he dyed his facial hair green…" he stuttered as he slumped into the chair. One hand held his head and the other called up Ms. Dawnpoulos.

"Lauren. I need a drink."

"It's 8:17 in the morning."

"With a coffee, then."

"You saw it?"

"Make it a double shot."

"Of coffee or alcohol?"

"Yes."

"Both. It'll be right up," and with that Mr. Bigcake thanked the universe that he had such an amazing employee working for him. And while he was talking to the universe, he asked it what was going on inside his new talent's head.


	7. Authority

"This is whack! When I signed I thought you wanted me to sing for the record company!" Raptor was not doing well at keeping his voice down, and his tantrum was aggravating Mr. Bigcake.

"I do, that's why we got you to sign a contract!" despite his attempts at reassurance and diplomacy, he could not calm Raptor down.

"But you aren't letting me sing ME! You're giving me crap like this to sing instead. 'Hey yo' where the words are 'hey yo, yo hey' for the entire thing? What about my songs?" he yelled as he threw the sheet music at his manager in disgust.

"Hey Yo is your song!"

"Well I don't remember writing it!" Raptor snapped as he dropped onto the couch, arms crossed and glaring at the wall. He felt bad about lashing out by throwing the music at his manager, but he was too angry to pick up the pages just yet.

"Raptor, you're young and new to the music industry. A lot of new artists get frustrated with this, but you have to understand-" Raptor grit his teeth and closed his eyes, trying to control his frustration before he couldn't stop himself from interrupting Mr. Bigcake.

"Understand what, that what I write isn't good enough? You signed me because of a song I made! Myself!" he hit his chest for emphasis, trying to contain the pent up anger inside of him. This always happened, people never thought he was good enough, and when he thought he had proved himself he had just been tricked and lied to.

"We signed you for your potential-" Mr. Bigcake tried to steer the conversation in a better direction, noticing that Raptor had turned from his rage to desperate frustration.

"Then let me reach my potential!"

"-and it takes years to master song writing. First we have to get you known, then after you've had some formal practice you can write your own songs, but for now you need to sing the songs we wrote for you," Mr. Bigcake continued through Raptor's interjection, trying to make Raptor understand how it worked.

"And who wrote this literary masterpiece?" Raptor scoffed, nodding to the pages still on the floor.

"Denise Fogbard, she's been-"

"Who is she? What does she know? What has she done?" Raptor interjected again when he didn't immediately recognize the name.

"She's made this company millions and has written multiple songs that got our stars to the top of the charts. She knows what she is doing-" all the manager could do was keep going even though his talent tried to interrupt him again.

"Yeah right has she gotten anyone to the top with these lyrics-"

"-And she was impressed with your work and wants to meet with you in a few days," Mr. Bigcake finished with a grin, knowing that last part would not only stop Raptor in his tracks but also make him feel better. And he was right.

"Wait, she… I impressed her?" Raptor looked at Mr. Bigcake in shock, his anger completely forgotten.

"She said for someone without training you had a good foundation, you obviously have an instinctive thing that other artists lack when they try to write their own songs. Ms. Fogbard wanted to see more of your work, she wants to know if the raw energy you put into your lyrics is steady or inconsistent," now that Raptor had calmed down Mr. Bigcake felt himself relax, smiling at the young man as he used flattery to persuade his talent.

"Oh… I… I guess I could meet her…" Raptor mumbled to himself, now feeling embarrassed for having reacted so strongly to the song. He couldn't help but feel hope that if he could impress Ms. Fogbard when they met that she would give him pointers and maybe like one of his songs enough to let him sing it.

"Good, now, will you trust those of us with more experience and sing our song?" Mr. Bigcake approached the subject again, feeling much more confident now.

"Yea. You guys know better than me," Raptor submitted after a long moment of silent thought.


	8. Bonus: Happiness

"REBECCA!" the scream warned her just before she was tackled by her friend.

"What? Anna I'm sitting right next to you why did you tackle me? What is this?" she asked, confused by the phone that was shoved into her face. Anna was silent, bouncing on the bench as her friend took the phone and read it.

"Oh, Raptor is coming back to the mall, that's cool."

" 'That's cool'? RAPTOR is coming back and 'that's cool'?" Anna demanded, snatching the phone back and checking Jitter for any more information. Rebecca shrugged, fixing her disheveled appearance.

"Well we heard him when the mall opened a few months ago, and again during the fashion show. I didn't think he'd be back for another year," she explained while she opened her bottle of water.

"True, but he's going to be back tomorrow! Not a year from now!"

"Wait TOMORROW?" Rebecca choked on her water.

"Now whose excited?" Anna teased, grinning as her blue eyed friend wiped the water from her face.

"I didn't read the dates!" was Rebecca's defense.

"So mall tomorrow?" the brown eyed girl asked with a nudge and a wink. Rebecca groaned and rolled her eyes as she thought.

"Ugh, I'll see. I got things to do tomorrow."

"You are way too obsessed with getting people to admire you. This isn't some game where you have to get liked by a faction or something," this of course was an ironic thing to say, as the girls had met online and spent countless hours playing horse games together.

"I know, but I gotta keep busy somehow."

"You can keep busy by going to the mall with me tomorrow! Don't act like you aren't excited for him, you're the one who waited for him to play for how many hours?" Rebecca blushed and looked away when her friend brought that up.

"Hey! He was supposed to play every two to three hours, it's not my fault he didn't show up!" she muttered defensively, arms crossed as she stared at the ground. Anna grinned and nudged her.

"Well, let's go see him tomorrow and that'll make up for all that time you waited for him," she offered.

"Oh ha ha. You realize the mall is going to be swamped tomorrow because of this, right?" Rebecca rolled her eyes but looked back at Anna, pointing out the hassle seeing Raptor would be.

"Well what do you want to do, go now and stay the night hiding in a bathroom or something to beat the crowd?" Anna asked rhetorically.

"That… actually sounds fun. We could just untack the horses and leave our equipment at the stable in Fort Pinta, I know Midnightwarrior won't mind wandering around on the beach for a night," Rebecca thought out loud, looking over at their horses.

"I was joking," Anna said after a moment of stunned silence.

"I'm not."

They stared at each other for a long moment, Rebecca completely serious, and at the end of the moment Anna grinned widely and said, "well Babygirl can have the night off! Let's go drop them off and catch the bus!"


End file.
